I popped back into existence in the sand beside Elmidath, who flinched. Instructing the ogres bearing her on the tent between them to stop, she sat down. “You took a while. Did something happen?”

I cleared my throat; the situation felt a bit ridiculous now that I had to explain it. “Well, I met this giant bird.”

“A giant bird.” Echoing my words in a flat tone, she narrowed her eyes.

“That’s right. And they said they were the herald of Aplusha, the god- “

“Yes, I know who Aplusha is.”

“Oh, okay.” I began again. “Anyway, his herald said their god was going to be reborn. I assume he meant soon but he didn’t really specify a timeframe… And I kind of ended up arguing with him.”

“Arguing? About what?”

“It’s kind of silly, and I hope I won’t offend you by saying so, but what he was saying about his god’s return being such a positive thing for the world felt like complete nonsense to me.” It occurred to me that I had no idea what Elmidath’s beliefs were like, maybe she even agreed with the herald.

She raised an eyebrow. “And you’re still alive? I suppose I should congratulate you on being so lucky.”

“What do you think about what I said to him? Other than being lucky to survive.” I hadn’t thought much about the issue before but now I really wanted to know how she felt about it.

She shrugged. “I think you were probably right. I hate that sort of stuff, so I probably would’ve said something similar. At least, I would have if I were eager for the cold embrace of death.” The long talon of her gauntlet poked me in the chest and she laughed. “But you should be more careful, it’s not like you need to look for more opportunities to get yourself killed. I’m sure we’ll have plenty more of those in the future.”

“Oh, great.” I was, of course, being sarcastic but I was glad to learn she didn’t believe in any of that sort of stuff. “So, should we be worried about this god or whatever coming back? He doesn’t exactly sound like a pleasant guy.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “I doubt his herald can bring him back in the first place. But even if they did, there’s not much we can do about it. Best just to worry about things we change; like getting the manor and the rest of my lands in order. There shouldn’t be anything more to distract us from that now.”

It seemed like the bulk of that would be cleaning and maybe administrative work which had to be dreadfully boring. But maybe that was exactly what I needed right now. My nerves were in a bit of a state from all this stress. Maybe that’s why I’d been so reckless in my dealings with the herald, it did feel as if I’d behaved idiotically in hindsight. I would’ve felt the same way regardless; I just probably wouldn’t have acted on it if I’d had a clearer head. Yeah, going back to my new home and doing some dull, predictable work sounded pretty good right now.

Elmidath went back to being carried while I followed along with a series of teleports. It was probably the most leisurely trip I’d taken in this world, though Elmidath did complain of how much her conveyance shook. We reached the manor while the suns were still high overhead to see that Biustarn’s soldiers were gone. Now that the job was done, I suppose they didn’t see any reason to stick around. Can’t say I blamed them; Biustarn’s tower was much nicer. They probably didn’t have to do any cleaning up or rebuilding over there either, it made me a bit envious.

Word spread quickly of our coming as soon as the ogres accompanying us were spotted. Korzan was there to meet us at the front door, as we left our escorts behind. With a short bow to Elmidath and a nod to me, she welcomed us home. Elmidath showed little outward sign of approval but I was pretty sure she was pleased by the display. “How have things been in my absence? No problems, I take it?”

“No, my lady. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Fixing the manor is proceeding smoothly then?”

“That’s right.”

“Good. That’s all for now, you can give me a more detailed account over dinner.”

Without another word, Elmidath swept past the both of us and went upstairs, toward her chambers. Korzan and I watched her go, then looked at each other. It was strange seeing her without her armour. Not that the she looked bad, quite the opposite. Her maroon dress went well with her dark blue skin, the glossy silk far nicer than the rough fabrics worn by the servants. “That’s a nice dress, did you bring it with you?”

She turned on the spot, the long skirt of her dress swishing through the air. “This? Nah, I can’t afford anything like this. Lady Sarinknell lent me some clothes.”

“Oh. Well you look good.”

“Thanks.” She looked over my mixture of clothing and armour, soiled from travel and combat, and smiled. “I wish I could say the same of you. You look like you had quite a time of it, makes me glad I was back here managing things.”

I chuckled. “Lucky you. I can’t say it was easy but things went pretty alright out there, all things considered. How’ve things been while we were away?”

“Lady Sarinknell already asked that.”

“Oh, right.”

“But now that you mention it…” she looked around to see that no one else was nearby before continuing. “The situation here might be a little more complex than I suggested before. You wouldn’t mind giving me a hand with something, would you?” She flashed her teeth again.

No matter how she spun it, it was clearly going to be more work for me but… How could I refuse such a pretty smile? Even if she had fangs. “Sure. Just give me some time to change and settle in.”

“All right, I’ll meet you by the kitchens.”

Back in my room, I stripped off my dirty clothes and armour then did what I could to wash myself in the basin. It was a far cry from what I’d been accustomed to back on earth, but I was pretty used to being dirty at this point. It was hard not to be. I put on a rough spun shirt along with a pair of trousers and went to meet Korzan. She was already there by the time I arrived, leaning against the wall and looking disinterested. “Hey, so what is it you wanted me to look at?”

She didn’t say anything, just gestured for me to follow and led me to a small adjacent room. Whatever it had been used for before, it was empty now. Why had Korzan brought me to an empty- Then I saw it. Where the grey stone tiles were blackened and warped downward. It looked like they were being pulled toward the ground by some force. “What the hell is this?”

“Heh, I guess you probably wouldn’t know either, huh?” She scratched her head. “I think it’s being effected by something underneath the ground, you don’t know about anything like that below the manor, do you?”

Oh. “Yeah, now that you mention it, it’s totally the tunnels under here. Elmidath and I went down there a few times and most of it looks kind of like this. All blackened and weird. Is it a problem though?” I wasn’t sure what exactly it meant but the tunnels didn’t seem so bad. If whatever magic had transformed that place was taking hold here, then it shouldn’t make much of a difference.

“Eh, I don’t really know. It looks a bit worrying though, right?” She knelt down and pointed to where the stone had formed into a tiny spike. “Especially stuff like this. I don’t want a bunch of sharp bits popping up from the floor in my bedroom, do you?”

When she put it that way, I suppose it would be inconvenient at best. But even if the magic, or whatever, was leeching up from below… what were we supposed to do about it? “It’s worth keeping an eye on but you probably don’t need to worry. I doubt it’ll get much worse, at least not anytime soon.”

Korzan shrugged. “If you don’t think it’s worth worrying about then I’m happy to ignore it, I’ve got enough to deal with already.” Tapping me on the arm as she moved past, she winked. “And if anything bad happens, I can just blame you for saying it was fine.”

Before I had a chance to complain she stepped by and hurried out. I sighed, I was already dreading having to explain this to Elmidath if something went wrong. Then again, I was probably just letting the personal risk get to me. It’d probably be fine. This was nothing compared to the damage the late Lord Sarinkell had done to the manor’s exterior and the grounds surrounding it. Besides, if something went wrong, I could blame my lack of familiarity with this world. That excuse should be good for at least another few months.

Easing the door closed behind me, I left whatever was happening in there behind. It’s not like this was part of my job. Elmidath had brought me here to fight her battles, not keep her house clean. Thwarting whatever magical influence was at work here wasn’t technically cleaning… but it was close enough for me. Maybe that stuff was part of cleaning in this world? It was hard to say for sure and I was content in my ignorance. Artfully dodging the additional responsibilities Korzan had tried to push on, I returned to my room with my head held high. Having dealt with that, I was free to spend the rest of my day doing absolutely nothing. An opportunity I took advantage of with great relish.